Last week's promo assured us that our jaws would hit the floor upon hearing Viola Davis's last nine words. Promos have a tendency to prefer exaggeration over straight fact, but I'd say the promo was bang on the money.
How To Get Away With Murder is fast turning into ABC's number one drama. Though last night's episode of Scandal was incredible, I'm very glad I chose to view the former first last night. I can't recall the first four episodes of a freshman series being as consistent as Murder's has been. It's very pleasing to see.
In line with the previous three episodes, including the premiere, last night's episode, titled "Let’s Get to Scooping", kicked off with flash forwards the night Annalise Keating's students are in the middle of disposing of Sam Keating's body. In last night's installment, the action centers on the increasingly freaky Connor, who thinks it's a great idea to lie down beside the bloodied corpse to get what can only be described as a better look. I'm noticing a trend with these flashbacks, and that is they slowly move further back in time. Episodes 1 and 2 opened at the disposal site, while episode 3 and last night's episode beginning their events at the Keating house. If things move in pairs, then next week we are due for a change in scenery which I'm looking forward to. Opening all episodes with timeshifted events is also unprecedented for a television series in my recent memory, and I'm definitely a fan with how Murder's creative team are pulling this off.
Written by Erika Green Swafford and directed by Laura Innes, last night's episode focused on Rebecca's complex, yet largely unknown circumstances. Though she features infrequently compared to the other leads, Katie Findlay is the strongest female lead behind the incredible Viola Davis, who took her character to new heights in this episode. Rebecca revealed she gave into the pressure asserted on her by the police, and conceded that her savior Wes was correct in predicting her framing. Rebecca continues to be my favorite character so far, given her mystery and her involvement in the flash forwards. She isn't off the hook by any means, because she's clearly observed something that ties her to the death of Lila Stangard.
Keating rallied her troops to produce the most unified display by her team so far. On top of Rebecca's case, Keating had to deal with an old friend's alleged insider trading, which provided a colorful procedural element to the episode. Of the bunch, it was Connor who stood out, leveraging his sexuality to the max and catching the real fraudster. Alongside Connor's dealings which took center stage, fellow students Wes, Michaela, Asher and Laurel adopted some interesting investigative tactics, providing some nicely timed comic relief to a literally dead serious drama.
In present tense, Sam Keating's tale continues to develop nicely. Believing he's been exonerated by his wife, Keating leaves for another late night, but came across Detective Nate Lahey, who had been examining his car's GPS history. We catch a glimpse of the screen, but the locations don't ring any bells at present. I'm sure a flashback in a coming episode will reveal more.
Growing the characters was a big part of the episode, with Connor leading the way until the final few moments. Annalise showed another part of herself upon removing her fake eyelashes, wig and makeup. I was shocked to see that. That adds a whole new level of depth to the character, and shows the sheer prowess of Viola Davis in the role. This scene was exquisitely acted and directed, and is easily the series' best scene to date.
We glimpsed Laurel's boyfriend, which Frank Delfino was taken aback by, but back to Connor. His freaky demeanor right throughout the episode, including the way he was joyfully hacking apart Sam Keating's corpse was rather disturbing. Wes and Rebecca grew in present tense after Wes met Rebecca by her apartment door, gaining her trust and the phone in the process. This was another fantastic scene, and was followed shortly after by those last 9 words we were promised in last week's promo, which make up the best final words of any television episode I've seen this season. Their delivery was so eerily beautiful, and the fallout will undoubtedly be incredible to watch unfold.
One criticism I want to mention for this episode of Murder is the lack of classroom time. This series was sold to the viewer based on a law class Keating teaches, but the series has increasingly deviated away from that since the pilot, instead focusing on the 5 students handpicked by Keating. We saw around 20 seconds worth of classroom time last night, which isn't good enough for me. The classroom scenes were among the best scenes in the premiere, and they are a handy tool for learning how Keating operates, and where her morals and values align.
That being said, that's a very minor criticism. Murder continues to take Thursdays by storm. This series is being executed with unrivaled precision among ABC's lineup, and is thoroughly deserving of the praise it is getting. The intensity is building each week as present day aligns with the flash forwards. ABC is the place to be on Thursdays, 10|9c, and I cannot wait for more.
Thanks a lot for reading! Are you seeing a murder suspect emerge? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories and your answer to that question in the comments below. Don't forget to keep tabs on How To Get Away With Murder's record breaking ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/howtogetawaywithmurder.
Jimmy.
